Some of the beaches of Florida are in the Naples area. The number one attraction for visitors to the Naples area, is its beaches which boast white sugar sand. From Bonita Beach in the north to the beaches of Marco Island and Ten Thousand Islands in the south. The beaches range from thriving mid-city beaches with full facilities and water sports rentals galore to quiet natural preserves and a state park, where observing wildlife and chilling take precedence. Broken only occasionally by passes and inlets, they provide long stretches for walking and communing with the sea. [linkoptimizer:1]

Take your pick from this 10 Best list of family friendly beaches such as Lowdermilk Park, downtown’s Naples Municipal Beach and Pier and even a freshwater lake beach at Sugden Regional Park.

Activities range from sunning and swimming to fishing, jet-skiing, sailing, kayaking and bar hopping. Naples beaches are known for their seashells and rich shore bird life, so don’t forget your shell bag and binoculars. Throw in a shelling and birding field guide while you’re at it.

Whichever variety of beach beckons your inner beach-bum, you are sure to find one that pleases. Or try a different one each day to experience the vast variety Naples has to offer. To plan your beach travel to Naples and the area beaches, Visit our Naples Travel Guide Here.

Barefoot Beach Preserve Park

This pristine park offers the ideal beach experience complete with tropical hammocks, scenic tidal creeks and lush mangrove swamps. For those who eschew beach crowds, this is usually a good bet, because it is a little trickier to get to – through a neighborhood development mined with speed bumps and roaming gopher tortoises. The 342-acre preserve features a one-mile nature trail, public showers, a picnic area, a concession stand, a butterfly garden and equipment rentals. Rangers conduct interpretive sessions and a daily guided canoe tour through the back bay. Wildlife and turtles can be abundant at times. Because Barefoot Beach is such a desirable place to visit, it is possible that available parking could fill later in the day during the season. Its natural, unspoiled quality appeals to wildlife watchers, fishermen and beach bums alike. To plan your beach travel to Naples and the area beaches, Visit our Naples Travel Guide Here.

Clam Pass County Park

This beach adventure begins with a tram ride across a three-quarter-mile boardwalk through a mangrove estuary, so you get to experience at least two different Naples habitats within minutes. The park fronts the Naples Grande Beach Resort, located adjacent to its parking lot, which means it can be heavily populated, especially in the winter and spring season. The concession area has plenty to offer making it great for kids. The rental stand has towels, chairs and beach umbrellas, along with a wide assortment of beach gear, including wind surfers, canoes, Hobie Cats and aqua bikes. The food concession also offers a shaded eating area.The lovely coastal habitat spans 35 acres and also includes a tidal bay area where beach goers can observe wading shorebirds, osprey and other marine life. Boat and cabana rentals are available at the county-operated facility, plus there are restrooms, showers and a resort food concession. To plan your beach travel to Naples and the area beaches, Visit our Naples Travel Guide Here.

Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park

Recognized as one of the best beaches in the US, the sandy shore at Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park is all-natural and devoid of the high rises and development of most of the other local beaches. A nature trail leads to an observation tower at the beach’s north end. Fishermen head to the pass to hook into fish being flushed out of the Cocohatchee River. The park is a lush wildlife habitat with mangroves covering 80% of the area. The park offers several shaded picnic and grilling areas along the length of the beach. A concession stand is available that offers food, drinks and beach items. A bathhouse is also available with changing stalls. This is a popular park, but you can usually find parking in one of the many lots if you arrive early enough. The park posts a sign on the road leading to it when it is full, but there’s another parking lot less than a quarter mile away if you don’t mind walking. Picnic areas have grills, restrooms and showers. To plan your beach travel to Naples and the area beaches, Visit our Naples Travel Guide Here.

Lowdermilk Park

Lowdermilk Park holds the most full-service facilities of any Gulf of Mexico beach in the Naples area, making it a good fit for families with children. They can gather for picnics in one of the two gazebo pavilions that the park rents out, go check out the duck pond, play on the two playgrounds and enjoy the calm and safe waters here away from any rushing pass waters. Other facilities include sand volleyball courts, restrooms and showers, handicap access and beach wheelchairs and a food concession stand. Its close proximity to the downtown area adds to its convenience for visitors of all ages. To plan your beach travel to Naples and the area beaches, Visit our Naples Travel Guide Here.

Naples Municipal Beach and Pier

The Naples City beach stretches 6 miles from Gordon Pass on the south side to Doctors Pass on the north side. The nice thing about the Naples City beach is easy access. Parking for the beach is available at the western end of most residential streets between 7th Avenue North, to 19th Avenue South (26 blocks of parking). Many of the access points also have an outdoor shower available for rinsing.

The Naples Fishing Pier is located at the west end of 12th Avenue South where plenty of parking is also available. The Pier is near the midway point of the Naples Beach where you can walk 3 miles south to Gordon Pass, or 3 miles north to Doctors Pass. The area on and around the pier usually has interesting activity, and a refreshment stand sits on the pier. Pelicans are regulars visitors there and you can find them begging for leftovers from the fisherman. Dolphins, schools of stingrays and fish can also be seen from the pier.

The beach is bordered on the east by multi-million dollar single family residences. On the entire six mile length of beach you will only find food and drink available at a few places, including the Pier, Lowdermilk Park or at the Naples Beach Hotel. There’s a beach bar and food available at the hotel, and fine restaurants. To plan your beach travel to Naples and the area beaches, Visit our Naples Travel Guide Here.

South Marco Beach

South Marco Beach Access is one of the two public beach accesses on Marco Island. For easy travel, the beach features a public parking lot with restrooms and a paved walkway over the road and on to the beach. South Marco Beach features one acre of beachfront property, lined with sabal palms and the large, luxury hotels of Marco Island. This beach is the less popular of the two Marco Island beaches, featuring virtually no amenities in addition to the picturesque scenery. Swimmers and sunbathers are allowed on South Marco from 8:00 a.m. until sunset each day. To plan your beach travel to Naples and the area beaches, Visit our Naples Travel Guide Here.

Sugden Regional Park

The only freshwater lake public beach in the Naples area, Sugden Regional Park is most well known for its sailing events and programs, but the 60-acre Avalon Lake is also a great place for kayaking and water skiing. The park rents water sports equipment including paddle boats. A scenic walking trail takes you around the lake, and visitors also enjoy picnicking, playing on the playground, fishing from the pier and relaxing on the sand beach. Water-skiing and sailing lessons are available at this county maintained facility in a quiet neighborhood on the east side of Naples – including instruction for those with special needs. To plan your beach travel to Naples and the area beaches, Visit our Naples Travel Guide Here.

Tigertail Beach

The most popular Marco Island beach, Tigertail features all the amenities one would expect to find at a Florida beach destination, plus a few unexpected pleasures. Adjacent to the parking lot, guests will find restroom facilities as well as a full-service snack bar. Wander across the white boardwalks to get to the sand and water. Situated on a lagoon, rather than the Gulf of Mexico, the water at Tigertail remains fairly shadow, ideal for kids to swim. During the summer season, lifeguards watch the beach during certain hours. Beach chairs and umbrella rentals are also available at Tigertail. Guests may also enjoy the adjacent butterfly gardens and playgrounds. For a family picnic, make use of the BBQ grills and picnic tables available at Tigertail. Perhaps one of the best things about this crescent-shaped beach is its inclusion in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission’s South Florida Birding Trail. Nesting shorebirds, including plovers, red knots, spoonbills, osprey, pelicans and even bald eagles are likely to make a home here.. To plan your beach travel to Naples and the area beaches, Visit our Naples Travel Guide Here.

Bonita Beach Park

Big Hickory Island holds the community of Bonita Beach, an erstwhile fishing village turned swank. At the island’s southernmost end, beach-lovers come to play. The closest beach to Interstate 75, it attracts a lively crowd of active beach-goers with all sorts of water sports rentals and beach volleyball. Although many come to party at Bonita Beach Park, it is also family friendly with a playground, showers, picnic shelters with tables and grills, beach rentals and a burger joint that feeds you indoors and outdoors. Heading north, you will find about ten more smaller public beach accesses, with free but limited parking, lining Hickory Boulevard. Directly north of the beach facilities is Doc’s Beach House, a good stop for grabbing breakfast, lunch, dinner or refreshments. To plan your beach travel to Naples and the area beaches, Visit our Naples Travel Guide Here.

Vanderbilt Beach

Vanderbilt Beach in North Naples fronts a line of resorts, including the Ritz-Carlton. The good news is that affords beach-goers venues for bar-hopping and dining. The bad: It gets a little crowded. A parking garage is available off of Vanderbilt Road on the south side of the street. Vanderbilt beach is located near several hotels, and concessions and water sport rentals are available. A their are a few hotel restaurants near buy, in the Naples Ritz Carlton. Plenty of open white sand carpets the beach along the gently lapping Gulf of Mexico. In the quiet early morning hours, beach goers can enjoy hunting for sea shells and watching shore birds. You can walk for miles along this stretch, to Clam Pass Preserve Park to the north and along housing developments and residential neighborhoods to the south. Perks such as a concession stand, public restrooms, showers and bike racks appeal to the midday crowd. To plan your beach travel to Naples and the area beaches, Visit our Naples Travel Guide Here.

27 Comments

My sister’s family goes to Naples almost every year. Now I see why. Naples looks like a very beautiful place in Florida. I am going to have to make a trip there myself. This year we are going to California, but I can start thinking ahead and planning for Naples 🙂 Maybe I will my sister and her family there. Great information on Naples.

Wow, you will get to experience the beaches on the west coast, and then the beaches on the east coast. The water is a lot warmer on the east coast. If you stay on the Gulf of Mexico in Florida, you will find really calm warm waters. You will enjoy both beach destinations, California and Florida !

Great article, and what a great website! I love that you have so many details about each beach, and not just a list. Keep up the good work, I will definitely come back to your site! I really want to go to Florida, these beaches look so nice 🙂 I live in Norway, and here it’s always cold..

How cool is that? Those beaches look so fun. I am glad to run across this site.
My wife and I are looking for somewhere to go. This may be the most beautiful of all the places we have been looking at. One thing we want to check out is the deep sea fishing, one of my favorites things to do. Do you know anything about the fishing? Could you put us in touch with someone that could take us fishing?
It is cold here in Missouri and you have just brought lots of sun and warmth to me thru those pictures. Thanks

Hi Bob! You can definitely go deep sea fishing out of Naples. The best website to get your charter set up thru is going to be PureNaples.com. On this site, there are deep sea fishing options for you 🙂 You will really enjoy Naples! Thanks for visiting the Best Beaches of Naples.

You have done an awesome job of increasing my awareness of these locations. I appreciate the pros and cons. You have made good use of the video and images make reading the post very pleasurable. As a frequent traveler, I really like the deal of the day and direct tabs to package deals.

Your post is very well organized!

One quick question – as a WA newcomer, how do you put the beach image at the top of your post? I must have missed this training!

Hi there, this is a beautiful post about some seemingly gorgeous beaches. Going to the beach especially with kids always seems like such a good idea- however in reality it can get a bit crazy especially when ill prepared.

I think being busy and active is the key to getting the most out of a beach visit and that’s why I love your review on the Clam Pass County Park beach.

It seems like they have thought of everything offering a wide variety of all the essentials such as towels – such a great idea .Having great facilities such as toilets and showers are also a must when you have the little ones too. Thanks

I like the specific details you provide on each beach, including some of the pros and cons. I also really like the pictures and the video. That lets me see how beautiful these locations are. The tab for package deals is great; that’s what I would use if I were going to plan a trip there. Very well organized and great presentation!

This is a great list and summary of beaches in the Naples area! My father lives in Florida and we look forward to getting down to see him again soon. We are currently on the other coast and will be traveling back east when we can.

Question – do you know if any of these listed are dog friendly beaches? These are really popular in San Diego, but wasn’t so sure about Florida.